A Jackson County sheriff’s deputy, volunteer firefighter and son of the Franklin County Sheriff was killed in a car crash Wednesday night while he was working on duty as a part-time deputy in Franklin County.

Deputy sheriff Cruz Thomas was traveling northbound on I-85 in the inside travel lane attempting to catch up to a traffic violator at around 9 p.m. near mile marker 163 when an unknown tractor trailer attempted to change lanes, causing the patrol car to travel into the grass median, according to the Georgia State Patrol in an email.

Cruz, 26, was a full-time sheriff’s deputy in Jackson County who worked part time as a deputy in Franklin County. He had been employed for about five years with the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, working in the jail before being certified and promoted to road deputy in 2011, Sheriff Janis Mangum wrote in an email.

He was a father and the son of Franklin County Sheriff Stevie Thomas and is survived by his sister, parents and infant daughter.

Many Facebook friends of Cruz have changed their profile pictures to graphics in his honor.

"I am very broken hearted, as are all the employees of the Sheriff’s Office," said Mangum. " We will lean on each other as a family and we will be there to support Franklin County Sheriff Stevie Thomas, his wife Tina, their family, and the men and women of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office."